1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector used for connecting, for example, a pair of printed substrates to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Connector units are thus far known that include a first connector attached to one of a pair of substrates disposed such that respective surfaces oppose each other, and a second connector attached to the other substrate, the first connector and the second connector being configured to be fitted together to connect the substrates, for example as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-18785.
One of the connectors includes a fixed housing to be fixed to the substrate, a movable housing disposed to move relative to the fixed housing in a front-back direction and a width direction of the connector, and a plurality of terminals each having an end portion retained by the movable housing and the other end portion retained by the fixed housing. The movable housing is displaced relative to the fixed housing by elastic deformation of a movable portion provided between the end portions of each of the terminals, so as to absorb a positional shift between the substrates arising from vibration or impact.
With the mentioned connector unit, the positional shift between the substrates takes place in the front-back direction and the width direction of the connector, however only the terminals of one of the connectors are elastically deformable so as to allow the movable housing to be displaced. Accordingly, the movable portion of the terminal has to be elastically deformed by a sufficient amount in both the front-back direction and the width direction of the connector. Therefore, the movable portion in the terminal of one of the connectors is formed in a shape having a generally square cross section and with a small cross-sectional area. Such a configuration impedes an increase in allowable current of the terminal, thus making it difficult to employ the connector for large-current devices.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing drawback, and provides a connector that enables the allowable current of a terminal to be increased, despite the connector being configured to move in a front-back direction and a width direction relative to a mating connector.